By DAVID CAMPHOUSE
The County Board – at its Monday, Sept. 25, meeting – approved a $1,000 grant award to the Pittsfield Fall Festival’s Car Show.
The $1,000 grant came at the recommendation of the Pike County Accommodation Tax Advisory Board, which voted to recommend the grant at its quarterly Sept. 18 meeting.
The Fall Festival, represented at the Accommodations Tax Advisory Board meeting by David Forshey, originally requested $1,500, but the board granted $1,000.
$700 of the grant will be used to rent additional port-o-potties during the Fall Festival Car Show, and $300 of the grant award will be used to advertise the event.
Upon approving the award, the Accommodations Tax Advisory Board members recommended to the Fall Festival Car Show organizers to make the car show into a two-day event, in order to encourage additional overnight stays at Pike County’s lodging establishments.
Also approved was a resolution to relinquish rights to the alleys and streets of the New Philadelphia town site. The request for the county to relinquish the rights came at the request of the National Park System, since the town site is being brought into the National Park System.
“Because the town was platted with streets and alleys, we need to officially relinquish our rights and claims to those,” County Board President Andy Borrowman said. “This will help further New Philadelphia in the process of becoming a part of the National Park System, and that is the right thing to do.”
The board also approved a recommendation from Sheriff David Greenwood to name Shane Martin as the new maintenance person for the county courthouse and grounds. Martin will replace Darwin Feenstra, who is retiring effective Sept. 30.
“It has been a pleasure to have Mr. Feenstra as an employee, and he has done an outstanding job,” Borrowman said.
Also approved was the appointment of Annette Whitlock to the West Central Mass Transit Board for a term to end June 30, 2027.
The board went on to schedule a series of budget hearings to start the process of designing the county’s budget for the next fiscal year.
Budget hearings are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m.; Wednesday, Oct. 11, at 7 p.m.; and Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 6:30 p.m.
A point was made to schedule one of the hearings on a date that would allow representatives from the court system to attend, since next year’s budget will be impacted by the state’s Safe-T Act, which is anticipated to increase expenses on the justice system.
